NDL & NDT in 2026

[Fortythirtyeight]

Kent not running any form of speedway in 2026

[Marky_Mark]

Apparently it’s a 6 team national league 

If we’ve gained Buxton into the league then we must have lost a team that ran in the league last season 

Edited yesterday at 03:08 PM by Marky_Mark

[Diamonds85]

57 minutes ago, Marky_Mark said:

Apparently it’s a 6 team national league 

If we’ve gained Buxton into the league then we must have lost a team that ran in the league last season 

Do we know when the details will be made public? I've always enjoyed attending national league meetings, in fact last season they were the only meetings I attended in the UK 🤔

I guess it'll just be an NDL and no trophy league next year? So out of Belle Vue Colts, Edinburgh Academy, Leicester Lion Cubs, Middlesbrough Tigers, Oxford Chargers, Steelers, King's Lynn Young Stars, Leicester Fox Cubs and Plymouth Centurions, with the potential addition of the Buxton Bulls and the unfortunate closure of Birmingham and Kent.

Who do we think the 6 will be? And will there be 2 separate leagues again.

Personally out of the teams I've named above I'll be gutted no matter which ones don't continue next season, but I really want to see:

Belle Vue Colts

Buxton Bulls

Edinburgh Academy

King's Lynn Young Stars

Leicester Lion Cubs

Middlesbrough Tigers

Oxford Chargers

Plymouth Centurions

Steelers

At a minimum, which is obviously more than 6...

Was hoping there'd be some new teams, such as Ashfield Giants, Mildenhall Fen Tigers and Berwick Bullets, crop up too but I don't think it'll happen.

[Sings4Speedway]

Hoping to see Buxton included but fear time will be a factor. 

Belle Vue / Edinburgh / Leicester / Oxford most likely with Kings Lynn and Plymouth.

Think Scunthorpe and Redcar want out asap. The positive is that potentially Buxton and Kent returning to make an 8 team league in 2027 would be positive....the negatives ive done 100 times before and as a NL stalwart there is little again to excite me this season or next.

[Diamonds85]

1 minute ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Hoping to see Buxton included but fear time will be a factor. 

Belle Vue / Edinburgh / Leicester / Oxford most likely with Kings Lynn and Plymouth.

Think Scunthorpe and Redcar want out asap. The positive is that potentially Buxton and Kent returning to make an 8 team league in 2027 would be positive....the negatives ive done 100 times before and as a NL stalwart there is little again to excite me this season or next.

Why do you think Middlesbrough and Steelers want out? Genuine question.

Is it costs, politics, track availability, I'm genuinely unsure as I've been out the loop really for a couple season.

Thanks

[Marky_Mark]

Rumour is that Plymouth aren’t running the Centurions NDL team this season 

[Marky_Mark]

The 6 teams is confirmed for the national league although I don’t have a list of teams. Not sure 🤔 if there is a separate league for the National trophy but with no Plymouth, Kent or Birmingham I would guess not 

[mac101]

Pretty sure Middlesbrough/Redcar will be one Buxton Leicester Oxford kings lynn possibly Edinburgh and belle vue and one other from what I hear so maybe 6/7/8 teams is there enough riders for one league 

[secsy1]

Not sure if I remember correctly but Belle Vue CEO might have mentioned in Speedway Star that the Colts were not financially viable.

[Fortythirtyeight]

Six teams only ( but one is struggling for a sponsor to make it viable ),  no NDL Trophy league.

No Shared team from Scun/ Sheffield. No Colts, no Plymouth and no Kent obviously.

So only 5 home matches for any newbies to learn there way around to have a home advantage.

Still…….more teams than the premiership !

[Diamonds85]

1 hour ago, secsy1 said:

Not sure if I remember correctly but Belle Vue CEO might have mentioned in Speedway Star that the Colts were not financially viable.

I can't imagine running a team at this level is financially viable for any club... but they still do it, for the development of the future. All teams should have some sort of junior meetings, whether that's NDL or NJL/MDL.

At least Belle Vue have a stadium already going with the Aces. Unlike say Buxton who are stand alones.

[Diamonds85]

50 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

Six teams only ( but one is struggling for a sponsor to make it viable ),  no NDL Trophy league.

No Shared team from Scun/ Sheffield. No Colts, no Plymouth and no Kent obviously.

So only 5 home matches for any newbies to learn there way around to have a home advantage.

Still…….more teams than the premiership !

Is this all fact, or just what you've heard?

[RoundTheBoards]

32 minutes ago, Diamonds85 said:

Is this all fact, or just what you've heard?

Fact.   And a 42 point limit will see the "win at all costs" people pushing the costs up.

[BackInTheDHSS]

Oxford have confirmed the Chargers will be running “in a six-team National Development League”. Race nights Wednesdays and Fridays.

[szkocjasid]

55 minutes ago, RoundTheBoards said:

Fact.   And a 42 point limit will see the "win at all costs" people pushing the costs up.

A 42 point limit isn't actually a particularly strong league imo.

Every year then limit is below 42 then the league is weaker than previously, so technically last season was the weakest ever development league. Even when clubs sign a 3 pointer who doubles or triples their average, the league should average out at 42.

All a 42 point limit does is stop improving riders missing out in team spots, which is a good thing.

It's a shame there's only 6 teams, but at least there's still a development league running.

If clubs lose money on the NL, perhaps every Prem & Champ team who don't enter should pay a nominal "training fee" to be shared amongst the clubs that do? After all in future years they'll want to use riders other clubs spent money on training (Cairns / Rushen etc). 😉

[arnieg]

9 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

A 42 point limit isn't actually a particularly strong league imo.

Every year then limit is below 42 then the league is weaker than previously, so technically last season was the weakest ever development league. Even when clubs sign a 3 pointer who doubles or triples their average, the league should average out at 42.

All a 42 point limit does is stop improving riders missing out in team spots, which is a good thing.

It's a shame there's only 6 teams, but at least there's still a development league running.

If clubs lose money on the NL, perhaps every Prem & Champ team who don't enter should pay a nominal "training fee" to be shared amongst the clubs that do? After all in future years they'll want to use riders other clubs spent money on training (Cairns / Rushen etc). 😉

I think you need to factor in the riders who exit the NDL pool as a consequence of having moved on to higher things [or retired in Ben Trigger's case]. With Prem and Championship places already will Cairns, Rushen and Scott be  looking for NDL places, and have Joe Thompson and Luke Harrison outgrown the league?

If some of these riders don't take up NDL spots I think you are looking at 40 or even 38 as the sweet spot for the limit.

[RoundTheBoards]

24 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

A 42 point limit isn't actually a particularly strong league imo.

It's way too strong.  The NDL must always be below 42 to allow the riders who have reached the limit of NDL to move up to Championship, and be replaced by fresh new 3.00 talent.    Unlike the professional leagues where the mean average is 42, the mean average for NDL should be around 36.  This allows a 9 point rider to move on and be replaced by a 3.00.      All a 42-point limit will do is serve those who are on an ego trip to win a trophy, clog the league with 30 and 40 year old has-beens, hold back those who need to move onwards, and block out the 15-year-olds.

 

Edited 22 hours ago by RoundTheBoards

[Fortythirtyeight]

2 hours ago, Diamonds85 said:

Is this all fact, or just what you've heard?

Published Fact today…..but it’s speedway !

[Sings4Speedway]

15 hours ago, Diamonds85 said:

Why do you think Middlesbrough and Steelers want out? Genuine question.

Is it costs, politics, track availability, I'm genuinely unsure as I've been out the loop really for a couple season.

Thanks

Steelers were generated purely to boost the numbers, Sheffield lost interest quickly and more so with new ownership. Scunthorpe won't want to take on the project to run at a continual loss. 

Redcar was a more optimistic venture given there were plenty of club links and breeding ground for potential CL reserves but from all ive heard its been poorly received by fans and attendances have been challenging.

I would be delighted to see both sides take their place in the NL next season but even one would be a bonus.

[phillwhitewasmad]

12 hours ago, arnieg said:

I think you need to factor in the riders who exit the NDL pool as a consequence of having moved on to higher things [or retired in Ben Trigger's case]. With Prem and Championship places already will Cairns, Rushen and Scott be  looking for NDL places, and have Joe Thompson and Luke Harrison outgrown the league?

If some of these riders don't take up NDL spots I think you are looking at 40 or even 38 as the sweet spot for the limit.

Currently no decision is made on Luke doing the league, my personal feeling is he shouldn't do it as with the current pay scales even scoring 15 every meeting means you run at a loss and even more so when you factor in the loss of a days working wage for us both as well. But on the flip side of that with only a championship spot and the limited amount of racing that it will provide he may have to do it for bike time and to justify the huge outlay on equipment during the winter. From doing 70 plus meetings last year  to probably less 35 this year is there any wonder why young riders give up.